Viral Storytelling with The Story Lady, Ronda Del Boccio

I just finally got back from JV Alert Live in Orlando, Florida last night.  I was supposed to arrive Monday evening.  OK - this is going to be a rant.  Not about the event.  JV Alert Live is not to be missed, and I’ll have lots of cool things to share with you about it soon, but right now I am going to rant about being stranded with a guide dog at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.

American Airlines - The Good:

I love the phone alerts you can get from American Airlines.  I have messages sent to my cell phone about gate changes, cancellations, schedule changes, etc.  These are great, and everyone traveling would benefit from having them voice or text your phone. 

Also in general American Airlines is good about getting me help between gates when I make a connecting flight and good about getting me help to the gate or baggage claim and out to ground transportation.  They are the best of any airline I have flown in this regard.

As a person stly blind, it puts my mind at ease to know that someone will be there to get me where I need to go.  If you have a disability and you fly, my experience has been excellent with American Airlines in this regard.

Something else that I appreciated was that when the first plane I was on rolled up to the gate, I turned my cell on to find the message that my connecting flight had been cancelled, but that I was confirmed on a flight leaving the next morning.  No, I wasn’t thrilled about being stranded overnight, but the airline at least got me a connection and a discount on the hotel.  They even gave me a little emergency toiletries kit.

This was funny.  I naturally didn’t want to put dirty socks and undies on, so I washed them in the sink.  They didn’t dry, so I set the blow dryer on the counter and dried them while I walked Molly.

American Airlines and DFW Airport: The Bad 

If you’re going to get stranded overnight, the airlines/airports should give you your luggage.  I mean, it’s not like it’s on another plane already, so why not let people have their clothes?  A lot of the hassles I went through would have been so easily mitigated by access to my luggage and my guide dog’s food.   It’s not nice to be stranded with no change of undies, but worse is that I could not properly care for my dog and have access to her allergy spray.  How I had to spend Tuesday is where it gets ugly.

American Airlines - the Bad

I was returning to Springfield Branson Regional Airport, and there was one of those lovely Ozarks ice storms, so I knew full well that the flight American Airlines put me on at 8:55 AM was going to cancel.  No way when you’re talking about a day of hail and ice storms followed by a severely cold night is a morning flight going to happen.

What’s bad here that IS in someone’s control is this:  You can’t find out soon enough that a flight is cancelled.  You have to get to the airport two hours early, and they NEVER - ok maybe it happened sometime once so I’ll say RARELY - cancel a flight that early.  If they did, you could change your plans and not spend the day waiting around an airport.  This is where it gets ugly.

 American Airlines and Springfield Branson Regional Airport: The Ugly

Walk through the day with me…

My poor dog has been lying in an exhausted heap on the bed.  She’s the one getting the best sleep.  I get up at 6 so I can check on the flight status and connect with my ride and make sure there’s enough time to dry my undies and walk Molly.  I figure I’ll call American Airlines and find out if I can wait it out for a while at the hotel, which is more comfortable, because the flight will be cancelled.  So this is what I find out when I ask if I can stay at the Days Inn and relax because the flight won’t go. 

I’m told if I do that and the flight leaves, even if it’s hours later, I would have a penalty fee for changing.  I’m already out an extra $60 for the room plus an extra day of food, which I am sharing with my guide dog, so why on early would I want to have a penalty fee as the cherry on top?

I try to feed Molly some hard boiled eggs and oatmeal, but she won’t take it. 

So I’m forced to go to DFW at 7 AM and go through security.  About a half hour before departure - BIG surprise - finally they cancel the flight.  Why didn’t someone use their brain earlier?  So now there’s a voice message that I’m confirmed on a flight at 6:35 PM.

Remember, it’s not just me who is stranded.  I’ve got a guide dog with me.  Airports are stressful places for dogs as much as they are for people.  The floor is hard.  There’s a lot of stimulation.  People don’t look where they’re going, and naturally, the dog needs to be relieed.

So I’m facing 11 hours in DFW.  Nothing left for Springfield for most of yesterday, so anything that actually makes it out will have a day of stranded passengers to carry as well.  It’s going to be a long day.  I take Molly outside for a while to take care of business and get a break from the noise etc. of the airport.  Naturally, when we come back, we have to go through security again.  She has to be searched.  It is the second time today with several more to follow that she will be searched.

The guy who checks my ID and ticket is named Christian.  I find that out because I’ll be in line a few times today.  He asks, “Did you go out for a smoke?  And I tell him I had to relieve the dog, and I’d be back through several times.

Eleven hours in an airport is a long time under the best of circumstances.  Now besides being in and out and going through security several times with Molly, I’m trying to work.  Cell phones are not designed for several hours of talking without some “rest” in between to charge.   Even if I had been smart enough to have my charger in my purse, it’s next to impossible to find a place to charge something in an airport.  I go into a wireless store and buy a gizmo that charges the phone off a AA battery.  I don’t know how long it will last, but at least I have a shot at being able to take some of the calls.

I call Glenn’s office to let them know I may or not make it on calls because I’m stranded in the airport and I don’t know how long the phone will hold out, so if clients call they’ll know why I missed a call.

The battery gizmo only works for a few minutes, so I take it back.  We try a different unit.  I manage to take a couple of calls.

I’m carrying around a big cup of ice water all day for Molly’s needs, and of course I have to abandon it and get a new one every time I go outside security.  More potty breaks outside.  I get on a conference call and the call drops.  Can’t et back in.  Meanwhile, I keep getting the message that the battery is charged, but the phone starts dying after about a minute.  Back to the wireless store.  Turns out that it’s the battery for my LG phone.

And in case you have an LG phone, you might like to know this:  LG cell phones are apparently notorious for having their batteries swell up and die.  Mine was a bit puffy but not as bad as some that they had seen.

Another potty break and I get something for Molly to eat.  After that, I ask someone to tell me what gate my flight leaves from and wander down to the gate.  The guy there asks me if I’m going to Pittsburgh and I say no, Springfield MO.  he says, “There’s a flight leaving right now if you want to get on it.”

Of course I want on it!  I get there and walk right onto the plane, and I discover that this flight is half empty.  So here’s my “ugly” question…

Why didn’t American Airlines change me to an earlier flight since there was room?  Why would they strand a blind eprson and her guide dog for so long when it wasn’t necessary?

It knocked over an hour off my horrible day of waiting  So I was able to call my ride and get home.  I honestly didn’t know if I was gong to have to stay over another night.

Springfield Brandon Regional Airport:  The Bad

This was bad, not ugly, but when I got to the Springfield airport, several of us had to go to the American counter for our luggage.  The people were bringing one bag at a time from the room in the back out front.  Why not bring out the cart and let people point to their bag, then check their claim check?  Again, using your brains is a useful thing.

So … is it any wonder that people don’t like flying?  I can remember when it didn’t used to be this much of a hassle.

The Story Lady